Cristiano Ronaldo takes swipe at referee

The Portuguese winger was left frustrated last night as the Danish official refused to award him two free-kicks on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area in the second half.

Ronaldo - who also hit the crossbar with a stunning strike after the break - could not resist a dig at the official and said: "We have to respect the referee but he did not have the best game. I hope we will have a better one [referee] at Arsenal.

"It is going to be much more difficult there. Arsenal are playing in front of their own supporters, so it will be tough but it is not a problem for us.

"We are always favourites. We are the holders of the Champions League and we are always confident. We are a mature team and we know how to play away from home."

The European and world player of the year is confident United can outwit Arsenal at Emirates Stadium next Tuesday and believes they are only still in the match because of the heroics of Manuel Almunia.

He added: "If we score one goal, it will be easier but we have to be focused and try to win the game. We have to play in the second leg as we did tonight and I will try to score next week. Last night was Almunia's night. He stopped a few goals and played superbly.

"When the goalkeeper is the best player on the pitch, it shows how difficult it is for other teams to play against us."

Giggs's appearance as a second-half substitute was his 800th for United and Ronaldo was quick to pay tribute to the Welshman.

He added: "He has had a fantastic season and it is an unbelievable achievement. I hope to be like him one day. He is a fantastic player."

Sir Alex Ferguson preferred Carlos Tevez to Dimitar Berbatov in attack and his decision was justified as the Argentine was excellent in the first half, allowing Arsenal no time on the ball and setting up many of United's best attacks. Tevez's display was met with chants of "Fergie, sign him up" from the Old Trafford crowd, who are frustrated that the striker's future has still not been resolved, with his two-year loan deal approaching its end.

As it stands, Tevez appears to believe he is on his way out of Old Trafford but he remains desperate to win a second Champions League winner's medal.

Tevez said: "It is very important to get the 1-0 win but next week the game will be very difficult. It was very good for me to be in the starting line-up tonight.

"We played well and wanted to score another goal but we must be happy with the way we played. It was great to hear the fans chanting my name. The crowd here are great to me and it means a lot."